Wireless communication system based on mmWave RF repeaters

ABSTRACT

A wireless communication system based on millimeter wave (mmWave) radio frequency (RF) repeaters includes a first communication device. The first communication device includes a digital signal processor configured to provide access to a first type of communication network to a plurality of communication systems that are communicatively coupled to the first communication device via a plurality of different type of wireless networks. A plurality of radio frequency (RF) signals corresponding to different communication protocols is obtained via the plurality of different type of wireless networks. The obtained plurality of RF signals corresponding to different communication protocols are merged into a mmWave RF signal of a specified frequency. The mmWave RF signal of the specified frequency is transmitted to a second communication device.

REFERENCE

None.

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

Certain embodiments of the disclosure relate to a wireless communicationsystem. More specifically, certain embodiments of the disclosure relateto wireless communication system based on millimeter wave (mmWave) radiofrequency (RF) repeaters.

BACKGROUND

Conventional communication devices, such as a wireless access point(WAP), are often used to extend the wireless coverage of an existingWi-Fi signal to access Internet and to increase the numbers of enddevices (users) that are capable to use Wi-Fi may connect to the WAP.However, Wi-Fi signals by virtue of the limitation of the Wi-Ficommunication protocol have a defined range beyond which theconnectivity is lost. Thus, a large number of WAPs or range extendersare used if wireless coverage for Wi-Fi signals are to be extended.Moreover, under ideal conditions, typically 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi supports up to450 Mbps or 600 Mbps, and 5 GHz Wi-Fi supports up to 1300 Mbps. Thus,the data transmission over such narrow bandwidth is much lower ascompared to higher radio frequencies. In case of Bluetooth network, thecoverage and data transmission rate is even much less than conventionalWi-Fi network. Currently, certain communication devices, such asInternet-of-Things (IoT) devices depend on high-speed Internet access tothe cloud to send sensor data and receive instructions (e.g. artificialintelligence-based processing models) from cloud either directly or viaa gateway device. The number of wireless sensors and IoT devices arerapidly increasing with the increase in smart homes, smart offices,enterprises, etc. Existing Wi-Fi standards are unbale to handle suchmassive number of wireless sensors and IoT devices and theirquality-of-service (QoS) requirements. Further, some of thecommunication devices may not support cellular communication or Wi-Fi ormay support some other communication protocols (e.g. Bluetooth lowenergy protocol only). In such cases, it is extremely difficult andtechnically challenging to support these end user devices havingdifferent communication capabilities and connectivity needs.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditionalapproaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, throughcomparison of such systems with some aspects of the present disclosureas set forth in the remainder of the present application with referenceto the drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

A wireless communication system based on millimeter wave (mmWave) radiofrequency (RF) repeaters, substantially as shown in and/or described inconnection with at least one of the figures, as set forth morecompletely in the claims.

These and other advantages, aspects and novel features of the presentdisclosure, as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof,will be more fully understood from the following description anddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an exemplary wireless communication systembased on millimeter wave (mmWave) radio frequency (RF) repeaters, inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram that illustrates various components of anexemplary wireless communication system based on millimeter wave(mmWave) radio frequency (RF) repeaters, in accordance with an exemplaryembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a diagram that illustrates an exemplary scenario ofimplementation of a wireless communication system based on millimeterwave (mmWave) radio frequency (RF) repeaters, in accordance with anexemplary embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart that illustrates an exemplary communication by awireless communication system based on millimeter wave (mmWave) radiofrequency (RF) repeaters, in accordance with an embodiment of thedisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

Certain embodiments of the disclosure may be found in a wirelesscommunication system based on millimeter wave (mmWave) radio frequency(RF) repeaters. The wireless communication system and method of thepresent disclosure enables not only improvements in data transfer ratesbetween at least two communication devices as compared to existingwireless systems (e.g. conventional wireless local area networks), butalso provides an always-connected experience as a result of itsmultiprotocol feature, which provides a capability to handle differentwireless communication protocols concurrently in terms of extendingtheir range as well as increasing bandwidth concurrently for highperformance wireless content communication. In the followingdescription, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which forma part hereof, and in which is shown, by way of illustration, variousembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an exemplary wireless communication systembased on millimeter wave (mmWave) radio frequency (RF) repeaters. Withreference to FIG. 1 , there is shown a wireless communication system 100that may include a first communication device 102, which may be acentral communication device. The wireless communication system 100further includes a plurality of second communication devices 104A to104N (namely, a second communication device 104A, a third communicationdevice 1048, a fourth communication device 104C, and an Nthcommunication device 104N). There is further shown a plurality ofcommunication systems 106, a first type of communication network 108,and a plurality of different type of wireless networks 110.

The first communication device 102 may be a networking hardware thatacts as a central communication device and a gateway (or a mediator)between the first type of communication network 108 (e.g. Internet) andthe plurality of different type of wireless networks 110. The firstcommunication device 102 includes suitable logic, circuitry, andinterfaces that may be configured to provide access to the first type ofcommunication network 108 to the plurality of communication systems 106.The plurality of communication systems 106 may be communicativelycoupled to the first communication device 102 via the plurality ofdifferent type of wireless networks 110. The first communication device102 may be a multiprotocol wireless range extender device that has acapability to extend range of different RF signals communicated over aplurality of different communication protocols (e.g. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth,Zigbee, cellular signals, and other wireless communication protocols) atthe same time. Examples of the first communication device 102 mayinclude, but is not limited to a home gateway device, a fifth generation(5G) modem, a backplane system, an evolved-universal terrestrial radioaccess-new radio (NR) dual connectivity (EN-DC) device, a 5G wirelessaccess point, an advanced router, a bridge router, a network controller,a fixed wireless access (FWA) device, a server, a firewall device, or anetwork security device.

Each of the plurality of second communication devices 104A to 104Nincludes suitable logic, circuitry, and interfaces that may beconfigured to communicate with the first communication device 102 andone or more other second communication devices of the plurality ofsecond communication devices 104A to 104N. For example, the secondcommunication device 104A may be configured to communicate with thefirst communication device 102, and one or more of other secondcommunication devices of the plurality of second communication devices104A to 104N in a parallel transmission or a chain transmission. In animplementation, in order to execute the chain transmission, the secondcommunication device 104A may be a relay node that may communicate anyRF signal received from the first communication device 102 further tothe third communication device 104B, which in turn may furthercommunicate the RF signal to the fourth communication device 104C, andso forth. Examples of the each of the plurality of second communicationdevices 104A to 104N (such as the second communication device 104B) mayinclude, but is not limited to a 5G wireless access point, amultiprotocol wireless range extender device, an evolved-universalterrestrial radio access-new radio (NR) dual connectivity (EN-DC)device, a NR-enabled relay node, a NR-enabled repeater device, awireless local area network (WLAN)-enabled device, or a wirelesspersonal area network (WPAN)-enabled device.

Each of the plurality of communication systems 106 (e.g. S1 to Sn)includes suitable logic, circuitry, and interfaces that may beconfigured to communicate with the first communication device 102 inorder to access the first type of communication network 108 (e.g. theInternet). The plurality of communication systems 106 may becommunicatively coupled to the first communication device 102 via theplurality of different type of wireless networks 110. Each of theplurality of communication systems 106 may be configured to communicatewith the first communication device 102 in a plurality of differentrange of frequencies, such as 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, or sub 6 GHz bands, whichare typically considered as narrow bandwidths. Examples of the pluralityof communication systems 106 may include, but is not limited to one ormore wireless access points (e.g. a 2.4 GHz based wireless access pointand a 5 GHz multiple input multiple output) MIMO capable wireless accesspoint), a camera system, a radar system, an Internet-of-Things (IoT)controller, an IoT device, a Wi-Fi only device, a Bluetooth only device,a Zigbee only device, an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing(OFDM) communication system, a cellular communication system, such as a2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G NR-enabled communication system.

In an implementation, the first type of communication network 108 may bea wired network, such as an optical fibre connection, which provideshigh-speed access (e.g. multi-gigabits data rate) to a core network, forexample, Internet. In another implementation, the first type ofcommunication network 108 may be a 5G cellular communication networkhaving high data transfer rate.

The plurality of different type of wireless networks 110 (e.g. WN1 toWNn) correspond to a Wireless-Fidelity (Wi-Fi) network, a Bluetoothnetwork, a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) network, a Zigbee network, acellular network, an infrared communication network, a radio frequencyfor consumer electronics (RF4CE) network, a wireless sensor network, oran Internet-of-Things network.

In operation, the first communication device 102 may be communicativelycoupled to the first type of communication network 108. In animplementation, the first communication device 102 may be connected to amodem. In another implementation, the first communication device 102 maybe integrated with the modem (i.e. the functionalities of a modem may beintegrated with the first communication device 102). The firstcommunication device 102 may be configured to provide access to thefirst type of communication network 108 to the plurality ofcommunication systems 106 that are communicatively coupled to the firstcommunication device 102 via the plurality of different type of wirelessnetworks 110. In an example, the plurality of different type of wirelessnetworks 110 may include a first Wi-Fi network operating in a firstfrequency, a second Wi-Fi network operating in a second frequency thatis different from the first frequency, or other low power Wi-Fi network(such as IEEE 802.11ah, also known as Wi-Fi “HaLow” or other variationof Wi-Fi based on IEEE 802.11), a Bluetooth network, a Bluetooth lowenergy (BLE) network, a wireless sensor network (e.g. adaptive networktopology based network), a Zigbee network, a cellular network, aninfrared communication, a radio frequency for consumer electronics(RF4CE), or other short-range wireless communication network, such as awireless personal area network.

The first communication device 102 may be configured to obtain aplurality of RF signals corresponding to different communicationprotocols via the plurality of different type of wireless networks 110.The different communication protocols may correspond to (i.e. mayinclude) a Wireless-Fidelity (Wi-Fi) protocol, a Bluetooth Protocol, aBluetooth low energy (BLE) protocol, a Zigbee protocol, a cellularcommunication protocol, an infrared communication protocol, a radiofrequency for consumer electronics (RF4CE) protocol, a wireless sensornetwork protocol, or different variations of wireless wide area network(WWAN), wireless local area network (WLAN), or wireless personal areanetwork (WPAN) protocols. In an example, the first communication device102 may include (i.e. may be realized by) various components, such as RFfront-end (transmitter front-ends and receiver front-ends), a digitalsignal processor, low-noise amplifiers, phase shifters, power combiners,power dividers, power amplifiers, logical control units, a combinationof functionalities of modems, a phased lock loop (PLL) circuits, andmixers.

In accordance with an embodiment, the first communication device 102 maybe further configured to upconvert a frequency of each of the pluralityof RF signals to a different frequency. In an example, data receivedover the plurality of RF signals may be converted in the form of bits,before transmission of such bits over-the-air using a mmWave RF signalby manipulation of frequency and one or more other signalcharacteristic, such as amplitude, and/or phase, of the mmWave RFsignal. In an example, higher order modulation schemes, such as 16QAM,64QAM, may be used to allow more information to be packed into a singleradio wave, which improves spectral efficiency of wirelesscommunication.

In accordance with an embodiment, the first communication device 102 maybe further configured to generate mmWave RF waveform of a specifiedfrequency. In accordance with an embodiment, the first communicationdevice 102 may be further configured to map and align the plurality ofRF signals corresponding to different communication protocols in themmWave RF signal (e.g. the generated mmWave RF waveform) in accordanceto a number of source antennas from which the plurality of RF signalsare obtained. For example, if a communication system of the plurality ofcommunication systems 106 has two antennas, then these two antennas maybe mapped to two corresponding RF signals in the mmWave RF signal. Anexample of mapping is shown and described in FIG. 3 . The firstcommunication device 102 may be further configured to merge the obtainedplurality of RF signals corresponding to different communicationprotocols into the mmWave RF signal of the specified frequency. In anexample, the plurality of RF signals upconverted at a differentfrequency are multiplexed by frequency division multiplexing. In anotherexample, the plurality of RF signals at different frequency aremultiplexed by time-division multiplexing.

The first communication device 102 may be further configured to transmitthe mmWave RF signal of the specified frequency to the secondcommunication device 104A. In an implementation, the first communicationdevice 102 may be further configured to provide the mmWave RF signal ofthe specified frequency to the plurality of second communication devices104A to 104N in a chain transmission, In another implementation, thefirst communication device 102 may be further configured to provide themmWave RF signal of the specified frequency to the plurality of secondcommunication devices 104A to 104N in a parallel transmission. In animplementation, the specified frequency of the mmWave RF signal is inthe range of 10 gigahertz (GHz) to 300 GHz. In another implementation,the specified frequency of the mmWave RF signal is in the range of 55gigahertz (GHz) to 65 GHz. In yet another implementation, the specifiedfrequency of the mmWave RF signal is 60 gigahertz (GHz).

In accordance with an embodiment, each of the plurality of RF signalscommunicated over a corresponding type of wireless network of theplurality of different type of wireless networks has a definedcommunication range. A coverage of the plurality of RF signalscorresponding to the different communication protocols is extendedbeyond the defined communication range based on the transmission of themmWave RF signal of the specified frequency that includes the pluralityof RF signals. In accordance with an embodiment, the secondcommunication device 104A may be configured to capture over-the-air themmWave wave RF signal of the specified frequency. For example, thesecond communication device 104A may be configured to detect and capturea 60 GHz RF signal. The second communication device 104A may be furtherconfigured to extract, from the transmitted mmWave RF signal, a wirelesswide area network signal, a wireless local area network signal, awireless personal area network signal, or a combination thereof thatcorresponds to the plurality of RF signals. The second communicationdevice 104A may be further configured to distribute the mmWave wave RFsignal of the specified frequency through mmWave mesh beam networking toincrease coverage for an always-connected experience. Similar to thesecond communication device 104A, each communication device of theplurality of second communication devices 104A to 104N is configured toextract, from the mmWave RF signal, at least one of the merged pluralityof RF signals for consumption, thereby increase coverage of theplurality of RF signals for an always-connected experience. For example,a user operating an end-user device may communicate with the firstcommunication device 102 or the second communication device 104A toreceive a data item over a ZigBee network from the first communicationdevice 102 (or the second communication device 104A) in a first room.The user carrying the end-user device may move to another room and mayget connected with the third communication device 104B. However, theend-user device may continue to receive the data item from the thirdcommunication device 104B (e.g. based on extraction of the originalZigBee signal by the third communication device 104B).

FIG. 2 is a block diagram that illustrates various components of anexemplary wireless communication system based on millimeter wave(mmWave) radio frequency (RF) repeaters, in accordance with an exemplaryembodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 2 is explained in conjunction withelements from FIG. 1 . With reference to FIG. 2 , there is shown a blockdiagram 200 of the first communication device 102. The firstcommunication device 102 may include a control section 202 and afront-end radio frequency (RF) section 204. The control section 202 mayinclude a digital signal processor 206 (i.e. a DSP 206) and a memory208. The control section 202 may be communicatively coupled to thefront-end RF section 204. The front-end RF section 204 may includefront-end RF circuitry 210. The front-end RF circuitry 210 may furtherinclude a receiver circuitry 212, a multiprotocol combiner circuit 214,and a transmitter circuitry 216.

The DSP 206 include suitable logic, circuitry, and/or interfacesconfigured to control the front-end RF circuitry 210. The firstcommunication device 102 may be a programmable device, where the DSP 206may execute instructions stored in the memory 208. Example of theimplementation of the DSP 206 may include, but are not limited to anembedded processor, a microcontroller, a specialized DSP, a ReducedInstruction Set Computing (RISC) processor, an Application-SpecificIntegrated Circuit (ASIC) processor, a Complex Instruction Set Computing(CISC) processor, and/or other processors.

The memory 208 may include suitable logic, circuitry, and/or interfacesthat may be configured to store instructions executable by the DSP 206.Examples of implementation of the memory 208 may include, but are notlimited to, a random access memory (RAM), a dynamic random access memory(DRAM), a static random access memory (SRAM), a processor cache, athyristor random access memory (T-RAM), a zero-capacitor random accessmemory (Z-RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a hard disk drive (HDD), asecure digital (SD) card, a flash drive, cache memory, and/or othernon-volatile memory. It is to be understood by a person having ordinaryskill in the art that the control section 202 may further include one ormore other components, such as an analog to digital converter (ADC), adigital to analog (DAC) converter, a cellular modem, and the like, knownin the art, which are omitted for brevity.

The front-end RF circuitry 210 may include the receiver circuitry 212,the multiprotocol combiner circuit 214, and the transmitter circuitry216. The receiver circuitry 212 may be configured to receive (or obtain)a plurality of RF signals corresponding to different communicationprotocols via the plurality of different type of wireless networks 110.For example, the receiver circuitry 212 may be configured to receiveWi-Fi signals, for example, in 2.4 GHz o 5 GHz, Bluetooth signals,Zigbee signals, infrared signals, or other types of RF signals, such aswireless wide area network signals over one or more frequencies,wireless local area network signals, or wireless personal area networksignals, or a combination thereof, from the plurality of communicationsystems 106. In an example, the receiver circuitry 212 may include acascading receiver chain comprising various components (e.g., an antennaarray, a set of low noise amplifiers (LNA), a set of receiver front endphase shifters, and a set of power combiners) for the signal reception(not shown for brevity).

The multiprotocol combiner circuit 214 may be configured to merge theobtained plurality of RF signals corresponding to differentcommunication protocols into a mmWave RF signal of a specifiedfrequency. In an implementation, the multiprotocol combiner circuit 214may be configured to merge the obtained plurality of RF signalscorresponding to different communication protocols under the control ofthe DSP 206 (e.g. when an instruction to merge is communicated by theDSP 206 to the multiprotocol combiner circuit 214, via a system bus (notshown). The obtained plurality of RF signals corresponding to differentcommunication protocols may be multiplexed (Mux) into the mmWave RFsignal of the specified frequency (e.g. 60 GHz).

The transmitter circuitry 216 may be configured to transmit the mmWaveRF signal of the specified frequency, such as the mmWave RF signal, tothe second communication device 104A. In an implementation, thetransmitter circuitry 216 may be configured to transmit the mmWave RFsignal of the specified frequency under the control of the DSP 206 (e.g.when an instruction to transmit is communicated by the DSP 206 to thetransmitter circuitry 216, via the system bus. In an example,transmitter circuitry 216 may include a cascading transmitter chaincomprising various components, such as a set of power dividers, a set oftransmitter front end phase shifters, a set of power amplifiers (PA),and an antenna system for the transmission of the mmWave RF signal inthe specified frequency. In an example, the mmWave RF signal in thespecified frequency may be distributed to other communication devices ofthe plurality of second communication devices 106 as a beam to form ammWave beam mesh network. In accordance with an embodiment, thefront-end RF circuitry 210 may receive input RF signals and transmit theone or more mmWave RF signals in accordance with multiple-inputmultiple-output (MIMO) reception and transmission. In some embodiments,a phased locked loop (PLL) circuit may be provided in the firstcommunication device 102, which acts a local oscillator and may beassociated with the transmitter circuitry 216 to facilitate upconversion of each input RF signals to a different frequency beforetransmission.

FIG. 3 is a diagram that illustrates an exemplary scenario ofimplementation of a wireless communication system based on millimeterwave (mmWave) radio frequency (RF) repeaters, in accordance with anexemplary embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 3 is explained inconjunction with elements from FIGS. 1 and 2 . With reference to FIG. 3, there is shown an exemplary scenario 300 of a wireless communicationsystem that include a central communication device 302 and a pluralityof relay nodes 304A to 304N. There is further shown a plurality ofcommunication systems 306, which includes a first Wi-Fi access point306A, a second Wi-Fi access point 306B, a Bluetooth low energy(BLE)-only IoT device 306C, a ZigBee-based system 306D, aBluetooth-based system 306E, a camera system 306F, and a cellular system306G. The first Wi-Fi access point 306A may have two antennas 308 andmay operate in 2.4 GHz frequency (i.e. network band) and the secondWi-Fi access point 306B may have a MIMO-based antenna system 310 and mayoperate in 5 GHz frequency. There is further shown a mmWave RF signal312 of a specified frequency, such as 60 GHz frequency, as an output ofthe central communication device 302 and a wired medium, such as afiber-optic cable 314, connected to the central communication device302.

In accordance with the exemplary scenario 300, the central communicationdevice 302 corresponds to the first communication device 102 and theplurality of relay nodes 304A to 304N corresponds to the plurality ofsecond communication devices 104A to 104N. The plurality ofcommunication systems 306 may be an example of the plurality ofcommunication systems 106. In the exemplary scenario 300, the centralcommunication device 302 may be communicatively coupled to thefiber-optic cable 314, for example, for accessing core network (e.g.Internet).

In accordance with an embodiment, the central communication device 302may be configured to obtain a plurality of RF signals from the pluralityof communication systems 306. For example, first Wi-Fi signals may beobtained from the first Wi-Fi access point 306A. Similarly, second Wi-Fisignals may be obtained from the second Wi-Fi access point 306B; a BLEsignal may be obtained from the BLE-only IoT device 306C, a ZigBeesignal may be obtained from the ZigBee-based system 306D, a Bluetoothsignal may be obtained from the Bluetooth-based system 306E, a RF signalcarrying video content may be obtained from the camera system 306F, anda cellular signal (e.g. a LTE or even a NR signal or a mmWave signal)may be obtained from the cellular system 306G.

In accordance with an embodiment, the central communication device 302may be further configured to upconvert a frequency of each of theplurality of RF signals to a different frequency. In an implementation,in certain scenarios, the first Wi-Fi signals from the first Wi-Fiaccess point 306A and the second Wi-Fi signals from the second Wi-Fiaccess point 306B may operate in same frequency (i.e. the firstfrequency and the second frequency may be same, for example, 5 GHz). Insuch a case, at least one of the first Wi-Fi signals and the secondWi-Fi signals is upconverted to a different frequency. In anotherscenario, the camera system 306F and the second Wi-Fi access point 306Bmay operate in same WLAN frequency (e.g. 5 GHz). In such a case, onlythe RF signal carrying video content from the camera system 306F may beupconverted to 5.2 GHz frequency. Alternatively, in anotherimplementation, each of the first Wi-Fi signals (e.g. 2.4 GHzfrequency), the second Wi-Fi signals (e.g. 5 GHz), the BLE signal, theZigBee signal, the Bluetooth signal, the RF signal, and the cellularsignal may be upconverted to a different frequency so that each RFsignal received from each communication system of the plurality ofcommunication systems 306 has a different upconverted frequency.

In accordance with an embodiment, the central communication device 302may be further configured to map and align the plurality of RF signalscorresponding to different communication protocols in accordance to anumber of source antennas from which the plurality of RF signals isobtained. Examples of the different communication protocols include, butis not limited to Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz, 3.6 GHz, 5 GHz (i.e. IEEE 802.11protocol and variations thereof), Zigbee protocol, Bluetooth protocol,BLE, or other protocols that typically operate in the range 1 MHz to 6GHz or even higher). As the first Wi-Fi access point 306A have twoantennas 308, thus, the two antennas 308 may be mapped to twocorresponding signals in the 60 GHz mmWave RF signal 312. Similarly, thesecond Wi-Fi access point 306B that may have the MIMO-based antennasystem 310 (e.g. four antennas) may be mapped to four correspondingsignals in the 60 GHz mmWave RF signal 312. Similarly, one antenna ofother systems may correspond to one corresponding signal in the mmWaveRF signal 312.

The central communication device 302 may be further configured to mergethe obtained plurality of RF signals corresponding to differentcommunication protocols into the mmWave RF signal 312 of 60 GHzfrequency. After the up-conversion and the mapping, the plurality of RFsignals at different frequency are multiplexed to form a single beam ofRF signal (i.e. the mmWave RF signal 312 of 60 GHz frequency). In anexample, the plurality of RF signals at different frequency aremultiplexed in a frequency division multiplexing. In another example,the plurality of RF signals at different frequency are multiplexed in atime-division multiplexing.

In an implementation, the central communication device 302 may befurther configured to transmit the mmWave RF signal 312 at 60 GHzfrequency to the relay node 304A. The relay node 304A may be configuredto further transmit the mmWave RF signal 312 at 60 GHz frequency to therelay node 304B, which then further transmits to the relay node 304C,and so forth in a chain transmission to extend the coverage of theplurality of RF signals corresponding to different communicationprotocols.

In another implementation, the central communication device 302 may befurther configured to transmit the mmWave RF signal 312 at 60 GHzfrequency concurrently to the relay node 304A and the relay node 304B.Thereafter, the relay node 304A may be configured to further transmitthe mmWave RF signal 312 at 60 GHz frequency to the relay node 304C andthe relay node 304N in a parallel transmission. The centralcommunication device 302 may be further configured to distribute themmWave RF signal 312 at 60 GHz frequency in a chain transmission, aparallel transmission, or a combination of the parallel transmission andthe chain transmission as a mesh network such that all the original RFsignals (i.e. any of the plurality of RF signals) previously merged intothe mmWave RF signal 312 are available everywhere in a defined area(e.g. an enterprise area) to be consumed by multiple end-user devicespresent in the defined area.

For example, certain end-user devices, such as a smart television, maybe communicatively coupled to the relay node 304A. Thus, the relay node304A may be configured to capture the mmWave wave RF signal 312 of 60GHz frequency over-the-air and extract, from the mmWave RF signal 312,the first Wi-Fi signals in upconverted form and down convert theextracted the first Wi-Fi signals to recover the original first Wi-Fisignals. The relay node 304A may be at a distance from the first Wi-Fiaccess point 306A that is beyond the usual communication range (e.g.usual range of 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi is approximately 40 to 50 meters indoorsand 92 to 100 meters outdoors) of the first Wi-Fi access point 306A. Theprovisioning of the first Wi-Fi signals in the form of the mmWave waveRF signal 312 to the relay node 304A improves the transmission speed andreduces latency and at the same time enables each individual end-userdevice, such as the smart television to quickly access its data streamover the extracted first Wi-Fi signals via the relay node 304A.Similarly, end-user devices having 5 GHz capable antenna may access itsdata stream over the extracted second Wi-Fi signals (e.g. of 5 GHz)provided by the relay node 304A. Further, end-user devices havingBluetooth-only capability may connect to the relay node 304 to accessits data (meant for only the designated device) over the BLE signalextracted by the relay node 304A. Moreover, in some embodiments, therelay node 304A itself may be an end-user device, such as the smarttelevision. In such a case, a data stream from Internet (i.e. the firsttype of communication network 108 (FIG. 1 )) may be accessible directlyover the mmWave wave RF signal 312 in a high data rate (a multi-gigabitdata rate, such as greater than 5 Gbps or even greater than 8 Gbps),whereas the smart television that acts as the relay node 304B may alsoextract other RF signals merged in the mmWave wave RF signal 312 andprovide to other end-user devices wirelessly connected to the smarttelevision. Similar to the relay node 304B, the other relay nodes, suchas relay node 304B, the relay node 304C, or the relay node 304N, maycapture the mmWave RF signal 312 at 60 GHz frequency, extract one ormore of a wireless local area network signal, a wireless personal areanetwork signal, or a combination thereof, from the mmWave wave RF signal312, and provide to corresponding end-user devices communicativelycoupled to corresponding relay nodes (i.e. the relay node 304B, or therelay node 304C, or the relay node 304N). Thus, a high-performancewireless content (e.g. data, audio, and video including 4K or 8K video)communication is achieved for an always connected experience.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart that illustrates exemplary communication by awireless communication system based on millimeter wave (mmWave) radiofrequency (RF) repeaters, in accordance with an embodiment of thedisclosure. FIG. 4 is explained in conjunction with elements from FIGS.1, 2, and 3 . With reference to FIG. 4 , there is shown a flow chart 400comprising exemplary operations 402 through 412 by the firstcommunication device 102.

At 402, an access to a first type of communication network may beprovided to the plurality of communication systems 106 that arecommunicatively coupled to the first communication device 102 via theplurality of different type of wireless networks 110. The DSP 206 may beconfigured to provide the access to the first type of communicationnetwork to the plurality of communication systems 106.

At 404, a plurality of radio frequency (RF) signals corresponding todifferent communication protocols may be obtained via the plurality ofdifferent type of wireless networks 110. The receiver circuitry 212 maybe configured to obtain the plurality of radio frequency (RF) signalscorresponding to different communication protocols via the plurality ofdifferent type of wireless networks 110.

At 406, a frequency of each of the plurality of RF signals may beupconverted to a different frequency. The DSP 206 may be configured toupconvert the frequency of each of the plurality of RF signals to adifferent frequency.

At 408, the obtained plurality of RF signals corresponding to differentcommunication protocols are merged into a mmWave RF signal of aspecified frequency. The multiprotocol combiner circuit 214 may beconfigured to multiplex the obtained plurality of RF signalscorresponding to different communication protocols are merged into themmWave RF signal.

At 410, the plurality of RF signals corresponding to differentcommunication protocols are mapped and aligned in the mmWave RF signalin accordance to a number of source antennas from which the plurality ofRF signals are obtained. The DSP 206 may be configured to map and alignthe plurality of RF signals corresponding to different communicationprotocols in the mmWave RF signal in accordance to a number of sourceantennas from which the plurality of RF signals are obtained.

At 412, the mmWave RF signal of the specified frequency is transmittedto the second communication device 104A. The transmitter circuitry 216may be configured to transmit the mmWave RF signal of the specifiedfrequency to the second communication device 104A. Each of the pluralityof RF signals communicated over a corresponding type of wireless networkof the plurality of different type of wireless networks 110 has adefined communication range. The DSP 206 may be configured to extend acoverage of the plurality of RF signals corresponding to the differentcommunication protocols beyond the defined communication range based onthe transmit of the mmWave RF signal of the specified frequency thatincludes the plurality of RF signals. In an implementation, the methodfurther includes providing the mmWave RF signal of the specifiedfrequency to the plurality of second communication devices 104A to 104Nin a chain transmission or a parallel transmission. At least one of themerged plurality of RF signals may be extracted from the mmWave signal112 at each of the plurality of second communication devices 104A to104N.

Various embodiments of the disclosure may provide a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having stored thereon, computer implementedinstructions that when executed by a computerized device causes thecomputerized device to execute operations, the comprising providingaccess, by the first communication device 102, to the first type ofcommunication network 108 to the plurality of communication systems 106that are communicatively coupled to the first communication device 102via the plurality of different type of wireless networks 110. Aplurality of radio frequency (RF) signals corresponding to differentcommunication protocols are obtained via the plurality of different typeof wireless networks 110. The obtained plurality of RF signalscorresponding to different communication protocols are merged into themmWave RF signal of a specified frequency. The mmWave RF signal of thespecified frequency is transmitted to the second communication device104A.

Various embodiments of the disclosure may provide the wirelesscommunication system 100 (FIG. 1 ). The wireless communication system100 includes the first communication device 102 (FIG. 1 ) that comprisesthe DSP 206 that is configured to provide access to the first type ofcommunication network 108 to the plurality of communication systems 106that are communicatively coupled to the first communication device 102via the plurality of different type of wireless networks 110. The DSP206 may be further configured to obtain a plurality of radio frequency(RF) signals corresponding to different communication protocols via theplurality of different type of wireless networks 110. The DSP 206 may befurther configured to merge the obtained plurality of RF signalscorresponding to different communication protocols into the mmWave RFsignal of a specified frequency. The DSP 206 may be further configuredto transmit the mmWave RF signal of the specified frequency to a secondcommunication device (such as the second communication device 104A).

Various embodiments of the disclosure may provide the wirelesscommunication system 100 (FIG. 1 ), which includes the firstcommunication device 102 (FIG. 1 ) that comprises the DSP 206 and thesecond communication device 104A. The DSP 206 is configured to obtain aplurality of radio frequency (RF) signals corresponding to differentcommunication protocols via the plurality of different type of wirelessnetworks 110. The DSP 206 may be further configured to merge theobtained plurality of RF signals corresponding to differentcommunication protocols into the mmWave RF signal of a specifiedfrequency. The DSP 206 may be further configured to transmit the mmWaveRF signal of the specified frequency to a second communication device(such as the second communication device 104A). The second communicationdevice 104A comprises a second digital signal processor (similar to thatof DSP 206) that is configured to extract, from the transmitted mmWaveRF signal, a wireless wide area network signal, a wireless local areanetwork signal, a wireless personal area network signal, or acombination thereof that corresponds to the plurality of RF signals.

In accordance with an embodiment, the first communication device 102 andthe second communication device 104A is one of: a fifth generation (5G)modem, a 5G wireless access point, a multiprotocol wireless rangeextender device, an evolved-universal terrestrial radio access-new radio(NR) dual connectivity (EN-DC) device, a NR-enabled relay node, aNR-enabled repeater device, a wireless local area network-enableddevice, a wireless personal area network-enabled device, ammWave-enabled device, or a 60 gigahertz (GHz) capable device. Thespecified frequency of the mmWave RF signal may be 60 gigahertz (GHz).

While various embodiments described in the present disclosure have beendescribed above, it should be understood that they have been presentedby way of example, and not limitation. It is to be understood thatvarious changes in form and detail can be made therein without departingfrom the scope of the present disclosure. In addition to using hardware(e.g., within or coupled to a central processing unit (“CPU”),microprocessor or processor, micro controller, digital signal processor,processor core, system on chip (“SOC”) or any other device),implementations may also be embodied in software (e.g. computer readablecode, program code, and/or instructions disposed in any form, such assource, object or machine language) disposed for example in anon-transitory computer-readable medium configured to store thesoftware. Such software can enable, for example, the function,fabrication, modeling, simulation, description and/or testing of theapparatus and methods describe herein. For example, this can beaccomplished through the use of general program languages (e.g., C,C++), hardware description languages (HDL) including Verilog HDL, VHDL,and so on, or other available programs. Such software can be disposed inany known non-transitory computer-readable medium, such assemiconductor, magnetic disc, or optical disc (e.g., CD-ROM, DVD-ROM,etc.). The software can also be disposed as computer data embodied in anon-transitory computer-readable transmission medium (e.g., solid statememory any other non-transitory medium including digital, optical,analog-based medium, such as removable storage media). Embodiments ofthe present disclosure may include methods of providing the apparatusdescribed herein by providing software describing the apparatus andsubsequently transmitting the software as a computer data signal over acommunication network including the internet and intranets.

It is to be further understood that the system described herein may beincluded in a semiconductor intellectual property core, such as amicroprocessor core (e.g., embodied in HDL) and transformed to hardwarein the production of integrated circuits. Additionally, the systemdescribed herein may be embodied as a combination of hardware andsoftware. Thus, the present disclosure should not be limited by any ofthe above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only inaccordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A wireless communication system, comprising: afirst communication device that comprises a digital signal processor,wherein the digital signal processor is configured to: provide access toa first type of communication network to a plurality of communicationsystems, wherein each of the plurality of communication systems iscommunicatively coupled to the first communication device via aplurality of different type of wireless networks; obtain a plurality ofradio frequency (RF) signals corresponding to different communicationprotocols from the plurality of communication systems via the pluralityof different type of wireless networks, wherein each communicationsystem is associated with a corresponding communication protocol of thedifferent communication protocols; merge the obtained plurality of RFsignals corresponding to different communication protocols into a mmWaveRF signal of a specified frequency; and transmit the mmWave RF signal ofthe specified frequency to a second communication device.
 2. Thewireless communication system according to claim 1, wherein the digitalsignal processor is further configured to upconvert a frequency of eachof the plurality of RF signals to a different frequency for the mergeinto the mmWave RF signal.
 3. The wireless communication systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the digital signal processor is furtherconfigured to map and align the plurality of RF signals corresponding todifferent communication protocols in the mmWave RF signal in accordanceto a number of source antennas from which the plurality of RF signalsare obtained.
 4. The wireless communication system according to claim 1,wherein the digital signal processor is further configured to providethe mmWave RF signal of the specified frequency to a plurality of secondcommunication devices in a chain transmission or a paralleltransmission, wherein each second communication device of the pluralityof second communication devices is configured to extract, from themmWave RF signal, at least one of the merged plurality of RF signals. 5.The wireless communication system according to claim 1, wherein each ofthe plurality of RF signals communicated over a corresponding type ofwireless network of the plurality of different type of wireless networkshas a defined communication range, wherein a coverage of the pluralityof RF signals corresponding to the different communication protocols isextended beyond the defined communication range based on the transmit ofthe mmWave RF signal of the specified frequency that includes theplurality of RF signals.
 6. The wireless communication system accordingto claim 1, wherein the first communication device and the secondcommunication device is one of: a fifth generation (5G) modem, a 5Gwireless access point, a multiprotocol wireless range extender device,an evolved-universal terrestrial radio access-new radio (NR) dualconnectivity (EN-DC) device, a NR-enabled relay node, a NR-enabledrepeater device, a wireless local area network-enabled device, awireless personal area network-enabled device, a mmWave-enabled device,or a 60 gigahertz (GHz) capable device.
 7. The wireless communicationsystem according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of different type ofwireless networks correspond to a Wireless-Fidelity (Wi-Fi) network, aBluetooth network, a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) network, a Zigbeenetwork, a cellular network, an infrared communication network, a radiofrequency for consumer electronics (RF4CE) network, a wireless sensornetwork, or an Internet-of-Things network.
 8. The wireless communicationsystem according to claim 1, wherein the different communicationprotocols correspond to a Wireless-Fidelity (Wi-Fi) protocol, aBluetooth Protocol, a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) protocol, a Zigbeeprotocol, a cellular communication protocol, an infrared communicationprotocol, a radio frequency for consumer electronics (RF4CE) protocol, awireless sensor network protocol, or different variations of wirelesswide area network (WWAN), wireless local area network (WLAN), orwireless personal area network (WPAN) protocols.
 9. The wirelesscommunication system according to claim 1, wherein the specifiedfrequency of the mmWave RF signal is in the range of 10 gigahertz (GHz)to 300 GHz.
 10. The wireless communication system according to claim 1,wherein the specified frequency of the mmWave RF signal is in the rangeof 55 gigahertz (GHz) to 65 GHz.
 11. The wireless communication systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the specified frequency of the mmWave RFsignal is 60 gigahertz (GHz).
 12. The wireless communication systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the obtained plurality of RF signalscorresponding to different communication protocols are multiplexed intothe mmWave RF signal of the specified frequency.
 13. A wirelesscommunication system, comprising: a first communication device and asecond communication device, wherein the first communication devicecomprises a first digital signal processor that is configured to: obtaina plurality of radio frequency (RF) signals corresponding to differentcommunication protocols from a plurality of communication systems,wherein each of the plurality of communication systems iscommunicatively coupled to the first communication device via aplurality of different type of wireless networks, wherein eachcommunication system is associated with a corresponding communicationprotocol of the different communication protocols; merge the obtainedplurality of RF signals corresponding to different communicationprotocols into a mmWave RF signal of a specified frequency; and transmitthe mmWave RF signal of the specified frequency to the secondcommunication device, wherein the second communication device comprisesa second digital signal processor that is configured to extract, fromthe transmitted mmWave RF signal, a wireless wide area network signal, awireless local area network signal, a wireless personal area networksignal, or a combination thereof that corresponds to the plurality of RFsignals.
 14. A wireless communication method, comprising: in a firstcommunication device that comprises a digital signal processor:providing, by the digital signal processor, access to a first type ofcommunication network to a plurality of communication systems, whereineach of the plurality of communication systems is communicativelycoupled to the first communication device via a plurality of differenttype of wireless networks; obtaining, by the digital signal processor, aplurality of radio frequency (RF) signals corresponding to differentcommunication protocols from the plurality of communication systems viathe plurality of different type of wireless networks, wherein eachcommunication system is associated with a corresponding communicationprotocol of the different communication protocols; merging, by thedigital signal processor, the obtained plurality of RF signalscorresponding to different communication protocols into a mmWave RFsignal of a specified frequency; and transmitting, by the digital signalprocessor, the mmWave RF signal of the specified frequency to a secondcommunication device.
 15. The method according to claim 14, furthercomprising upconverting a frequency of each of the plurality of RFsignals to a different frequency to cause the merge into the mmWave RFsignal.
 16. The method according to claim 14, further comprising mappingand aligning the plurality of RF signals corresponding to differentcommunication protocols in the mmWave RF signal in accordance to anumber of source antennas from which the plurality of RF signals areobtained.
 17. The method according to claim 14, further comprisingproviding the mmWave RF signal of the specified frequency to a pluralityof second communication devices in a chain transmission or a paralleltransmission, wherein each second communication device of the pluralityof second communication devices is configured to extract, from themmWave RF signal, at least one of the merged plurality of RF signals.18. The method according to claim 14, wherein each of the plurality ofRF signals communicated over a corresponding type of wireless network ofthe plurality of different type of wireless networks has a definedcommunication range, wherein a coverage of the plurality of RF signalscorresponding to the different communication protocols is extendedbeyond the defined communication range based on the transmit of themmWave RF signal of the specified frequency that includes the pluralityof RF signals.
 19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium havingstored thereon, computer implemented instructions, which when executedby a processor in a communication apparatus, causes the communicationapparatus to execute operations, the operations comprising: providing,by a first communication device, access to a first type of communicationnetwork to a plurality of communication systems, wherein each of theplurality of communication systems is communicatively coupled to thefirst communication device via a plurality of different type of wirelessnetworks; obtaining a plurality of radio frequency (RF) signalscorresponding to different communication protocols from the plurality ofcommunication systems via the plurality of different type of wirelessnetworks, wherein each communication system is associated with acorresponding communication protocol of the different communicationprotocols; merging the obtained plurality of RF signals corresponding todifferent communication protocols into a mmWave RF signal of a specifiedfrequency; and transmitting the mmWave RF signal of the specifiedfrequency to a second communication device.